Emily continued to stalk through the Dark Catacombs holding her Scroll in one hand and with her Weapon in its machine gun form in the other. She followed Shebul through the darkness, his hands twitching as he checked his corners. She understood his anxiety and even felt quite a bit of it, because while Luca had gotten stuck with Roman, someone he had beaten every time they went into the Arena and at the very least knew what restraint was, they were tracking Cosma.
She always assumed that she was going to lose no matter what she did, so she always struck like her life depended on it.
They continued to follow the only set of footsteps that disturbed the sand into the dark, no longer in any corridors and instead they were simply never ending rooms that made very little sense in terms of utility. Why were they connected to each other on every fucking door? Why did they have six walls? That didn't matter, as long as it didn't get in the way of her fight.
"Emily," Her partner piped up, crouching to observe something in the sand, "The tracks stop here." Ah yes, her helpful partner. She was quite taken with this new dedication to the team, even if she'd never be mentioning that to anyone, ever. The Smoke that marked the edges of his semblance began to billow out from his back, and much as she had been trying to drill into him for the past three months it all moved in the direction directly away from her. "Watch the sand," He pointed to the set of footprints that they had been following, causing her to run around and keep watch while he tried to find her with his semblance, "Even if her Semblance removes all the noise that she makes and forces you to not see her, she should still move the sand."
Immediately she backed up until she could feel his knelt form at her back, pointing the Flashlight towards the Door they had come through, not doubting for a second that their opponent would try and stab them in the back. Years of dealing with the girl made it quite clear exactly how low she would stoop.
If she could find no method to win on the ground, well, she had brought a shovel and was willing to dig.
That was why Luca had been so adamant about fighting them, not that there had been anything promising with the children hiding with the Headmaster what with Raul taking Hazel off for a… spar through a few walls. But even more so because Luca had chosen them, and Team ACRA as a preferred opponent. It wasn't that they were strong, because on a technical level Austin and maybe Ashley were above average on the strength charts. But Roman and Cosma were ruthless when they needed to be.
The whole month Team TESL had been training for something similar, only in a much more controlled situation, most likely renting the Arena for a fight or something. But if they had to prove themselves in a live fire situation, where they'd get a more accurate read on where they stood then so be it. The issue was the itch, or whatever it actually was. Emily wasn't stupid, the explanation she had been given alongside all the other students didn't make any sense. Didn't follow any of the rules that she had been taught, and she was expected to let it slide, because someone told her to.
Unlikely. But as it stood she had no idea where it came from or how it worked, not really. All she knew was that it hated waiting. It was impatient and sung for violence. She was concerned that if Cosma came at her in earnest, she wouldn't be able to temper her reactions enough to not seriously harm her.
Clack.
The Flashlight whipped to the right and she strained to see anything that stood out, but found only bones in the sand. She was tempted to move from her position to go check it out, but she wouldn't risk losing an asset like Shebul for something like that. Another pair of eyes and ears against Cosma was important.
She felt the Form at her back shift in the sand with and a bit of heavy breathing. Maybe the directing of his semblance was more tiring than he let on. "Find anything?" She asked, but received no reply. She immediately spun around and held her gun up, Only to be greeted with a lightly panting Tank in the space where Shebul was just kneeling. "Fuck!" She said as she spun around, trying to keep her weapon and Flashlight pointed at the multiple doors that surrounded her.
Clack.
She spun towards the sound, seeing a Bone laying in the previously undisturbed sand a few feet away, but before she could even begin to think about it a voice Hollered out to break the silence and startling in its volume. The bark of an order, with only two words, "Tank, Fetch!" She whipped around to the door where she came gun to gun with her quarry, who was bleeding a little and definitely breathing hard. She was also no longer wearing her long sleeved shirt from before and looked to be shivering in the cold catacombs.
Emily Pulled the trigger at the sight of her, but her shots went wide as she was immediately bowled over by the dog as he retrieved his bone. Her fingers loosened only minisculely on the grip of her gun, but with a feverish yelp Cosma darted forwards and swung her Shotgun like a baseball bat, rapping her on the knuckles of the single hand holding her weapon as well as smacking the weapon into the sand a few rooms over. Her scroll went side and landed light up, illuminating the closet-sized room. Emily scrambled to try and sit up, but instead came face to face with the dual bayonets of her Opponent's gun.
Emily bared her teeth, but before she could say anything Cosma pulled out her own Scroll and waved at her before she began shouting at her, "If you so much as move a muscle I activate my Semblance and hightail it out of here! The moment I'm out of this place, the photos I took of you getting getting into the shower go out to everyone on campus! Give up and the pics stay where they are!"
"Cosma!" She yelled back, properly scandalized at the mere notion, "How Dare you?! I've never-!"
"I need a nod yes or a shake no, princess!" her blackmailer shouted in her face, and Emily growled at the dismissal of her words. Her cheeks burned so hot that she was worried they were visible in the dark, but she nodded in agreement nonetheless. She swallowed her pride and decided that if it were a one on one fight, she'd have won.
But Luca had to test himself against tricky opponents, didn't he? The one that could and would plan for things that no one else thought deserved attention or time and the one that could basically go invisible. But that still left her with a question, "How did you separate Shebul and I? We were standing so close I could feel his back on mine."
"Thank the Brothers nobody ever looks up!" Cosma continued to Shout, ignoring her question outright as she leaned back and slid down the wall in relief. Emily immediately looked at the walls, where very clear shoe prints of dirt were visible on either side of tiny room in the light of her Scroll as it pointed skywards from the position it landed in. Emily smacked herself for such an obvious mistake as the adrenaline of the fight began to lower and the Itch ebbed away. Cosma continued on undeterred as Shebul crawled his way around the corner trussed up like a pig with a belt and had Cosma's button up shirt tied around his mouth like a gag, "Which means you both lost, and I win, which is nice. Because I think I have a concussion, and I know I'm deaf!"
The yellow dust flowed through his Mace as he swung it again and again, arcs of electricity barely missing Roman as they went through their deadly dance. And that was one thing that stuck out to Luca after years of getting surface level thoughts, he thought of everything as a dance, or a play. Everything had a part to play, whether it be as a prop or decoration nothing was not done on purpose. And he was simply the actor, following his stage directions as his feet hit his marks.
The crooked end of his staff swung up and Luca could only smile as he took the hit on the chin, his Aura barely blocking out the pain. This was what a fight should have always felt like, no one knowing the outcome, no one cheating, this was fair. That was what he'd been missing, what with a general understanding of whether or not he'd win or lose a fight the moment his opponent showed their face he felt like he'd been cheating.
He felt the pull of the Itch in his veins, fueling his actions forward. He would prove himself a loser or a fighter today, he could feel it in his soul. His very Aura, no longer being constantly expended on his Semblance, could rest easy and try to protect him from his acquaintance, who looked the same as usual, easily keeping pace with him in the melee. Luca had always been a little stronger and a tad more skilled while Roman had always been able to take a few more hits and dodge most of his swings. This was as it should be.
This made his eyes narrow, because he could feel the power of the Itch fueling his swings, making them move faster and stronger than he should have been able to, his single minded determination to improve and progress seeming to have a tangible effect on his capabilities. He had missed this small part of the Traitorous Headmaster's Semblance, which was for some reason having a resurgence. And Roman was easily keeping up with him, as though he were holding back in their earlier fights.
His semblance had never made any mention of it when giving him hints, but that was never solid proof. His semblance liked to leave out pertinent information. But, this was an exercise in trust in some sense, to trust the world to explain without him having to dig for it. Might as well try the overt approach. Time to switch things up.
He feinted an overhand blow to the face, letting the weak hit bounce off of Roman's staff as he fell under his guard. His free hand came up with a mound of dirt and he threw it towards his eyes. In that moment, time seemed to slow down as His eyes met the greens of Roman's wide and observant eyes. The look was an unnatural one for the normally calm and collected man, such noticeable dedication or zeal. Luca was surprised when the man simply pushed his Staff down on his arm and maintained eye contact as the sand hit his face, glasses and eyes without even blinking through the distraction.
He pressed a button on his weapon, which caused it to light up with electricity. Luca hissed as he hopped back from the Madman. He narrowed his eyes as he brushed at his twitching biceps and decided that he wanted an answer before he went back in, "How are you keeping pace with me? I should be stronger and quicker than you right now, technically speaking. I have Exemplar on my side, and you don't. You were always the least affected, the one who refused to fall into the fever of it," He narrowed his eyes and refused to activate his semblance even as the pull of his Aura strengthened in curiosity, "And yet, here we are. With you still keeping up."
Roman did not respond, only smiling lightly before he blurred into motion. Luca barely got his weapon up in time due to his extensive training with his Partner to catch the Crooked head of his staff, but was still thrown back from the force of the strike. Luca pressed the button on the haft of his mace and began to form a projectile, only to find him once more moving towards him, swinging his weapon like it was a warhammer. The strike forced the air from his lungs, and it was all he could do to raise his Aura in preparation for his gamble to create more distance. The flat of his Mace was smacked into Roman's chest, the globe of Aura and Dust exploding point blank in between them.
As Luca rolled away from the explosion, he shakily climbed to his feet, only to see the orange Aura of his enemy glowing in the dark, still going strong after the hit. Looking past that, he once again made eye contact with the man, and only the wisp of Blue energy that wafted out of his right eye let him onto the cause of such a dramatic shift. "Least affected?" he questioned as his Aura began to die back down to invisible levels, "Did your Semblance tell you that?"
"No, it didn't," He answered cautiously wielding his weapon in front of him, feeling his Aura trying to fix the bit of strain the quick onslaught put onto his arms and hands. "But it always told me when others were dealing with it, but never you. You were never acting out or getting in trouble, you were always planning and trying to get by. Not to mention your eyes-"
The blue that surrounded his otherwise green eye burst in intensity, and then suddenly the green was gone as something fell to the ground, and he was stuck with Roman smiling at him sadistically, one eye pale green, and the other a shockingly vibrant blue. "Contacts," He said, taking off his glasses and deftly removing the other contact as well, revealing that the other was just as vibrant, "Helped hide the visible effects while I dealt with the internal ones. And I think I know why your Semblance didn't mention this to you," His smile grew as his aura grew in Luca's sight, and the orange was like a flame as flickers of blue were hidden underneath the orange, "You all got over it, moved on and tried to get better. Not me, I've been dealing with this for eight years straight, not a single day goes by without the Itch pulling me down. Obsession wouldn't even begin to describe what I've been dealing with."
A shockwave sounded as the weapon swung in, and Luca could do nothing but dodge the attack, suddenly panicked by the shift in his friends behavior. As he tried to throttle down on his fear the attack kept going and caved in a wall in an explosion of dust and rubble. "Did you think I planned things out like I do because I think I'll Lose?" The amount of venom he poured into the sentence made it very clear that he disagreed with the assessment.
A jump towards him and Luca hopped backwards with another projectile screeching forward to impact, only for orange aura to coat the weapon almost instantly, so quickly that Luca knew it hadn't been thought out or even thought about, only instinct. Roman face was cold, with a reptilian smile that reflected in the light of their weapons and Aura.
"I was never concerned about- hrrgh," He grunted out as he parried a swing of his mace, his face and eyes drilling to his quarry even as his voice moved slowly away from the careful neutrality he always gave off, "Winning. I was concerned about how I won. Whether those watching, those paying, thought me too cruel, thought me too mean. It's always there, the pull to kick someone's teeth in when they bad mouth Cosma, the urge to set their room on fire when someone even looks at me wrong. It's all right there, boiling under the surface. And so I plan, I make sure I know exactly how much force is needed, how many explosives are considered fair game. And then when its time to fight, I play my part," Another Lunge and Luca had to smack the firing end of the Staf away before his own stunt was turned against him, but he was unprepared when Roman spun with the force of his parry to whack him upside the head, "I plan because I'm scared I'll overdo it! Because I want to give in!" an explosion of Dust sent Roman rocketing forward, the only evidence to Luca's eyes the burst of flame and smoke that was quickly swallowed by the dark of the hallway.
Luca watched his defeat coming towards him with a smile on his face, and he refused to let go of the hold on his semblance. He had lost, fair and square. He felt himself go sailing down the hall away from him, moving at speeds he'd be hard pressed to do without outside help. His head cracked against the wall and he dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Her eyes followed the silhouettes as they appeared and disappeared in the rapidly brightening Temple as the gales that surrounded the bottom half of her Body swerved out of the way of projectiles. She could hear the ragged breathing of the tenacious Dogs of War that the Lich had turned them into. No matter how hard she battered them down, they stood back up and came back at her again.
She barked a quick Plathadh, a full incantation too long to rely on in a situation like this, as she saw another Glowing Blue eye appear in the dark, a push of wind knocking into the Spearman. Refusing to stay stationary she pushed herself towards the Dias, assuming that the Lich would have to be there for whatever plan he had, but was intercepted by the Swordswoman appearing in her path. Cursing she pulled back on the instinct to respond lethally and instead forced her steadily depleting Aura into her hands to catch the blade.
She grit her teeth when the blade popped through her shield and bit into her palms. Why did Colton have to train them so well? She cursed the Man's methods and abilities, not to mention whatever gods-forsaken woman had birthed him. Quality over Quantity was one thing, but for a team of first years to press a Fully-trained Huntsman was ludicrous. I don't know where the strength of the Lich starts and where it ends with them.
Ochre said nothing as she wrenched the sword out of her hands in a spray of blood, much as the Rest of her Team had been doing for the past fifteen minutes. Only Davis Barked occasional orders form the darkness, even the cocky spearman falling into some sort of trance as they came for her. Like a pack of wolves, the only thing they were concerned with was the Hunt. Already commendable teamwork was now pushed to the forefront by the influence of the Lich, and based on the way the Runes were lighting up and pulsing alongside an almost choking amount of Magic in the air she would be forced to put them down, hard.
She'd be thrown in prison or killed just like Headmaster Fulvus was, but to see this Temple stand darkened and unused for the rest of eternity was her responsibility. As they fell in a tumble on the Stone Floor she ended up on top and began raining blows down on her student, before a strong kick shoved her off to stand on shaky legs. Not shaky from fatigue, she could fight in a melee for longer still, but the Spells she was using left her feeling pins and needles in all of her extremities. Not to mention what Speaking like this did to her mind. All the time she had spent watching over it and all the times that the Old Witch had reprimanded her for not doing what she was told circled around her head as something in her head began to pound. Heart Rate, blood pressure, or something else it didn't matter.
What did matter was how the unbridled fury and hurt pride affected her Magic, the taint of the emotion that she tried so hard to keep ahold of made her control slip. Something evil slithered underneath the surface, and she felt the pull towards it. The pull to teach the teenagers that dared to attack her a lesson, no matter why they did it. Her Aura spiked as she planted her foot into Ochre's sternum, her eager ears drinking in the sound of rustling clothes and feet on stone coming from her flanks as she repulsed them. She crouched down in a spin, her right foot extending as she did so to catch the Spearman's leading foot and knock him off balance.
She grabbed the shaft of the Spear as it passed over her and pulled him along with it as she swung it up and over her head towards where his partner was lunging in to plant her daggers into her perceived blindspot. Every time she got into a fight, every combatant assumed the same thing; A Dust User? I have to get in close. And when she had first started, they had been right to do so.
After nearly eleven years of training and practice she'd like to think she'd made a little headway on that weakness.
She slammed the two together and then jumped back with a pulse of Aura as she began to speak, "Go raibh an gaotha cuimilt do chraiceann ó do chnámha!" A yellow tinted wind tore from behind her, and she watched gravely as the overcharged spell crashed into the Ground and blew every loose sediment away from her, the Three bodies slamming in to the Wall of the Temple.
"So uncouth, Marsha," The Lich whispered into her ear, causing her to spin around and lash out with another Gale of wind. Her eyes darted around the Room for the source, but once again she couldn't find it. But now it wasn't that the room was too dark to see, it was that it was too bright, "And so impatient. Always how you wanted it, when you wanted it. But please, remind me; What was it you told Fulvus you wanted to be when you grew up?"
"What would you know of it?" Another scythe of wind tore through the air as the Magic reached a fever pitch, before realization came to her in a rush, "It was you! The Headmaster wasn't the one who cursed all those students, it was you! And here you are, doing it again!"
The whispers seemed to come from all around her as the Lich chuckled at her accusations, "Cursed? I only did what the Headmaster wanted, I gave them the drive to succeed. They would stride to become what they wanted to be, no matter the costs," The words were said lightly, and she could see how the spirit had so easily wormed his way into the heads of her Students.
Unfortunately for him, she was a witness to the effects of his help.
She rose in the air and began raining down bursts of wind in the room, unable to even see her Students now as her Aura dipped into the yellow, "They were children! They're not even allowed to buy a set of kitchen knives, let alone decide what they wanted to do with their lives! And along you came and locked them onto their path!" She could feel her soul soaring in response to such an extensive use of Magic, finally flowing free from her enchanted Glasses and Robes, which had torn to shreds in the Melee long ago and her Glasses were still outside whatever hell she was currently trapped in. Her disgust, her anger, and her rage all pulsed in her head and soul, her Aura wafting off of her like she was on fire. The Purple hue of her Aura the only color outside of Blue that she could see.
She heard the Sounds of feet hitting stone as the students evacuated the room, and as she breathed raggedly and floated in the air, the Lich paused. "They?" The dreaded voice responded in confusion, before he chuckled again, "Ah yes, I forgot. Not only are you impolite and impatient, you're arrogant. I thought you knew I was there from the beginning, that you knew what I was doing even then. Now I just see that you were just as Blind as your Headmaster," The feeling in her head got worse, the pain escalating to a throbbing.
The wind beneath her cut out haltingly and she fell like a stone to the dias underneath her at the foot of the Throne. Spots danced in her vision, like little voids in the blue of the room as pulsated, and from her position of laying on the floor she could easily see the Magic in the Runes spiralling up the room until it hit the Lens in the middle of the Sloped ceiling, and just like the rest of the Temple it was in perfect condition. Her eyes widened as the words at the base of the walls began to lose their color as all of the Magic was being stored in the lens.
"But you were always good to the younger years, weren't you?" The voice spoke again in her left ear, no longer filling the room in its eeriness. As breathing became hard for her and the pins and needle feeling of Magic left her Body she turned left towards the Chair that was in the middle of the room, coming face to face with a transparent Man that sat slouched in the throne like a lazy King might. He had silver hair and hazel eyes underneath the haze of blue Light that was quickly receding, and looked so ordinary that she wouldn't have even remembered his face had she not been called into his and the Headmaster's Office many a time when she had been but a Child.
The headmaster's Assistant smiled lazily as the recognition showed on her face, "You remember me? Oh good, that makes this a little less awkward. Not that it'll matter very long for you, Marsha. You were the piece of the Puzzle I needed, an honest to Gods Speaker in this day and age. I knew there was one on Campus, but the Board delayed me in finding them."
She could only look on in shock as the man that was heralded as a hero who had died fighting a deranged criminal, simply watched her die. And she was dying, most certainly. The Stones she had been thrashing were unnaturally cold underneath her body as she lost the strength to move her limbs. Tears began to prickle at the corners of her eyes as she felt her Aura being drained out of her.
"A font of magic in an Age that existed without," He explained further, a comforting tone to his voice that made her wish to the gods that she could skin him alive. She didn't need his Pity, she was- "Useful!" He crowed, shocking her as he filled in her thought, "That was what you told Fulvus! You wanted to be useful," He blinked at the Irony of the situation, and met her eyes with a sardonic smile as a beam of Blue light fell from the Ceiling and hit the Chair, which lit up with an intricate set of runes, "Well, you were definitely of use to me, though I imagine that will be of little consolation to you."
Her vision continued to swim, but she couldn't stop watching as his form began to merge with reality, his fingers curling around the wood of the Chair as he became corporeal, his weight suddenly making the old wood creak with the strain. The darkness began to swallow her as he stood tall, somehow just as alive as she was, "But don't worry, Marsha," He comforted as her conscious struggled to stay above the water of sleep, "Just like everyone else in my Horde, I promise you a new life. We'll be immortals."
She struggled against the cold that was seeping into her, both physically and metaphorically as she was being drained for all she was worth. She watched as the words on the walls lit up as her Aura reserves fell like a stone, and she realized why they had been lighting up as she fought. The stones cracked and splintered, but the runes stayed. She blinked the tears away as she tried to pull her aura, her unique gift of the Gods, her connection to Magic. But it was much too late for her, she had pushed too far, and had fallen to her emotions.
The Older Brother must be disappointed in her, not that it sounded like she'd be seeing him anytime soon. According to the Lich, on the other side of the black clouding her vision was an eternity of servitude. And she could do nothing but go peacefully into that quiet night under the sickeningly cheerful gaze of her captor.
Noises began to erupt around her, voices and weapons keeping her afloat, but it couldn't last forever and she sunk into the black..
[Instinct] was buzzing, smells of rust and iron and sand overpowered by the smell of ozone, like we were running towards a lightning storm. Clarity was striking, as it always was when it descended over me. I could feel the sand shifting beneath my feet, the air that pulled at my face, and the way that the cold air tore at my lungs with each ragged breath. And as my mind into overdrive to keep up with all the information all I could do was stare through the single notification floating in front of my face.
Quest Received: [Witchy Woman!]
Magic in a magical world, useful. Magic in ours? Game-changing.
-Save Marsha Mourie!
Rewards; +3000 exp, +10 Free Points, and increased reputation with Marsha Mourie.
I used my enhanced hearing to listen for any hollow spaces underneath the sand as Taylor and Ashley kept pace, batting around strategy for dealing with Team NOVA while I dealt with the bigger issue. I slid to a stop in front of the buried temple, not even bothering to warn my friends as I jumped fifty feet into the air and activated [Overclocked;Smackdown] to come hurtling back to the ground at speeds that defied physics.
There was a deafening Boom that rang in my head as the stone gave way to my force and I rode a wave of sand into a corridor that was pulsing light blue, waves of light moving along words carved into the walls. Some light was good, but I needed more. [Night-Vision; Half-Grimm] came on with the grinding noise of my Aura activating and pushing through my skin around my eyes and in a second the area lit up in the steely gray of my Aura.
My weapon swung out and tore chunks of stone from the wall as it zoomed into the sides of Team NOVA, who had been caught unaware in their haste to flee the Magical blue light of the Main Temple, and I could understand the feeling. There was an instinctual need in the back of my head, the need to flee from such immense power.
With a feral growl my control slammed back down and the fear was crushed underneath the immensely powerful need to end this as quickly and as painfully as I could. I swept the problem children aside, sent tumbling down a side tunnel while I took the straight shot for my target. [Overclocked; Trample] kicked in and I rushed down the long tunnel as I stared at the only spot of color in my vision, the blue so overpowering that it pierced my Grey.
I heard feet pounding and shouted orders to try to stop me, which was wishful thinking on Davis' part, and was rewarded with a crash as Taylor joined the fray, with Ashley not far behind. They'd be enough to at least keep them off of me while I dealt with the Root of the issue, which wasn't saying that I didn't think they could deal with a ragged NOVA on their owns.
I just planned on finishing this quickly.
As soon as I entered the large room, nearly as large as the Combat Arena, I activated [Power Jump] and threw myself forward towards the blip on my Mini-map, and the source of the blue in my eyes. Squatting in front of a chair in the middle of the room was a naked man, whose fingers were at the neck of Miss Mourie, who smelt like she'd had the absolute shit kicked out of her. The fuzziness of my night vision made it hard to see, but I was mostly sure that he was naked, and now looking at me as he stood up. A little taller than me, and a little less broad in the shoulders but most definitely human.
With a human body that I could touch.
That I could fight. I had no idea if the sounds of snarling wolves and chains clanking and rattling in his head was Fenrir or some psychosis, but he knew that he was almost done!
Immediately my eyes searched above his head for a clue as to what I should expect.
[Servico Liath]
[Level 68 Lich]
[The Original Lich]
Great.
Okay, my plan may need to adapt with that one number alone. My eyes zipped around the place, and I noticed a faint purple coming from Marsha's mouth like mist on a chilly morning, purple that floated up and almost immediately dissipated.
"Well, hello there!" he exclaimed cheerfully as he clapped his hands, and I immediately felt the effect of some Charisma Skill hit me and then slide off of me like water on a duck's ass. Whatever words he may have had formed or prepared fell by the wayside when I Lunged forward and swung my fist at his face. Surprise showed on his face even as his hand moved up and caught the swing before it impacted. He bumped into the chair and then I dumped the stamina that I recover in a second into [Thundering Blows] and hit him once more as my feet touched ground. He blocked this one as well, but you could only do so much for a blow like that and it sent him through the chair and rolling along the Floor.
With a grunt I grabbed Miss Mourie by her Robe and Launched myself for the door. I landed and dumped her in the hallway like a sack of flour, and immediately shouted into my head, 'Fenrir, Old tongue for Close the fuckin door, ASAP,' while on the outside I hollered into the Halls, "Ash, Grab Mourie and bail!" I heard a squawk of an affirmative and I nodded in response as a notification appeared in front of my eyes.
[Dlueth.]
I said the word and turned away from the door as it began to shudder to a close.
"Clever," the Lich hissed as he made his way towards me, all the while stretching his shoulders as he walked. It was odd to see where the grey of my vision blurred together at the edges of the blue that surrounded him, "One of the people I taught used that trick too, though I haven't heard of anyone using it in at least a thousand years. Of course it wasn't even that wide spread then," And then he crouched and leaped. His smile was jagged and feral as he pulled his arm back as he flew through the air, "Let's see if I remember how it goes!"
I heard the cone of air as it began to form around him and he fell towards me, and I rolled to the left as he landed with a crash, a new crater forming in the ground around him. He gave off an elated laugh as he hopped out of the whole and his Aura simmered down. "Watch out grampa," I goaded and activated [Panic!] and [Project Bloodlust] at full tilt, watching as his head tilted to the side, but I bared my teeth at him and finished the Taunt, "Ya might get hurt!"
"Pff," He blew out a huff of air, "You'll have to try harder to get a rise out of me kiddo," before lightly skipping forward before his hands blurred into motion. [Brawling] overtook me, and I fell into the brawl with a fervor very few could match. Every Punch he threw I met with one of my hands or arms, shoving down and out, always away from my body. And the entire time he kept talking, "I'm a Lich- the Lich. I am immortal, to fight me is like fighting time. I've turned the tides of wars, I've killed emperors in their heartlands, and I've deposed Gods that got too lippy. Some hopped up school boy is no threat to me." Once again the effect washed across me and another notification of an effect resisted was wiped away.
And his fighting style echoed the sentiment, as he was like a tide that fell on me, unrelenting and unending in his attack. Every space in my sight was filled with a limb thundering in with a blast of force and with the practiced motion of a Master. Too bad I had learned under someone who fought exactly like that. Minute things that most should have missed clued me in to movements and I knew exactly which blows were likely to give me as a child a concussion or broken arm. I could survive this onslaught without much issue.
But I had never managed to land so much as a life-threatening blow on Nan.
Defeating him in single combat would be an issue, if I even wanted to do that. He had come back from dying before, no reason to say that we wouldn't do it again… Was there? Even as his strikes bled through my block and my Stamina fell from the exertion, I bred my teeth in anticipation. My eyes zeroed in on my target and I decided on my plan of action.
The only issue was that I could not kill the man. A single slip of control and he'd be some untouchable, uncontrollable ball of Aura once more. Had to do this clean and before he figured out what I was after. Which meant this relied on my ability to take a punch and sell being someone's punching bag.
Steadily my Hp dropped as he began to put more effort into his assault, "I've mastered countless forms of war, weapons that you wouldn't even recognize!" With a turning kick that came out of nowhere he launched me across the Room, bouncing along the ground like a ragdoll before managing to get my feet under me and finish the slide upright as I neared one of the four pillars holding the ceiling up. Before I even came to a stop the buzzing and thrumming of Aura came into my senses, and I spun towards the sound without hesitation, slamming a [Thundering Blow] clumsily towards the spot in between me and the Pillar.
"Impressive," He complimented me as he calmly floated out of the way of the attack, without a hint of insincerity in his voice I was surprised to note, "For someone so young it is an achievement to have such strength. Tell me, who is your master? What is their family name, who knows maybe I know of them?"
"I ain't owned by anyone," I growled as I lunged forward with my chain outstretched and circling to gain momentum. I swung the chain in long circles and deliberately keeping it as long as I could for extra range, while my enemy lightly hopped around and out of the way of my attacks even as they carved up the stone as they past. I was so focused on what I wanted to do that it was hard to follow the conversation, because for all that I fought, I didn't speak to my enemies that often.
They usually didn't survive that long.
"Truly?" he questioned thoughtfully as he weaved and danced gracefully across the floor, "And yet you are not surprised when I call myself a Lich? You do not call me a madman, you do not flee when I replicate your Semblance?" I smirked at the implied air quotes around the title, "That is what they called someone's Mantra the last time I was in the world of the living, if I remember correctly. How Naive," He clicked his tongue like a disappointed parent as he suddenly disappeared in a flash of Aura, and I responded by Launching myself away from where I had been standing. I barely escaped unscathed as his glowing blue form fell from above and carved out another sizable chunk of stone.
Note to self; Ask Marsha about Semblances after she recovers.
I rolled, hard, into a crouch as I landed and turned around with a [Block] as he zipped from the newly formed crater, barely managing to catch his shin as it zoomed in at Taylor level speed. My bones shuddered from the impact and a tenth of my health dropped. He bounced off of my arm and proceeded to land a three kick combo as he orbited overhead, all three of which I was forced to block even as he used my own favored technique against me to the point that blood was being forced from my mouth due to internal bleeding.
He landed on one leg, spinning swiftly to land another turning kick to my stomach, but I was not a master of [Brawling] for nothing. I could feel the currents of movement around me, maybe I was feeling the wind. I could hear the muscles in his legs tightening as he moved and I responded in kind. The hit shook me down to my bones, which refused to give under the onslaught thank the brothers, and my right arm slapped down against my side while my hand tightly gripped the flesh of his leg as [Grapple] activated and my smile grew in intensity. His eyes widened as I stepped towards him and it was all he could do to mimic me and block my attack, but unfortunately for him it wasn't a barely empowered basic attack.
I forced every ounce of my Stamina into the Hit as I stepped into it, remembering every single lesson Nan gave me on how to throw a proper punch. My head fell towards his chest. My torso followed. My legs pushed off of the ground. Every fiber of muscle in my body was pushing my fist forward, to impact upon his face. I felt the bones underneath my hands give way as the force of my blow fought against the force of my Grapple, eventually deciding to mangle his leg until it could follow the rest of his body. He flew like he had been shot out of a cannon to hit the pillar behind him to embed himself into the stone.
I watched him as his Leg warped and twitched and cracked until it was back in place, and I realized what I was watching. There was no burst of Aura, there was no Speaking as I watched the process. The cuts and abrasions disappeared all at once and broken bones popped back into place like the body was resetting. Before I could put the bizarre thought to mind he called out to me in a voice tinted with Aura and magic, "You're watching me like you've never seen something like me, but before I was cursed with Undeath I was a Warrior-King. Blessed by Gods long gone," He pushed himself from the stone to fall to the floor with sure steps, now a visible anger on his face as he pushed all of his bones back into place, "And not the Old Man and the Witch, no matter how much they claim to be Divine, they are fakes. They fake divinity like I fake being alive," He paused in his trudge, narrowing his eyes as my Night-vision steadily leveled up and became more clear. He spit blood out of his mouth and cracked his knuckles as he moved in, "Gods my ass. Children playing with warheads more like. At least the Younger told me what I was to do before he left us with those twats. Is that why you're fighting me? Some misplaced devotion to a God?"
"No Gods," I bit out as I pulled together the last of my thoughts, "No Masters." I followed my heart, forever and always, even if that sounded sappy as hell.
I surged forward, my feet destroying the words under my feet as I Jumped forward in a headbutt that caught him in the stomach and sent us hurtling through the Pillar fully. As the Thousands of pounds of rock and Dust came crashing to the floor, he pressed his feet into my stomach and sent me flying away from him to crash against the ceiling. [Osteogenesis] Kicked in as the last digits of my fingers sharpened and lengthened, giving me a means of purchase against the Stone. One last target, I decided as I activated [Power Jump] and [Smackdown] as I flew towards the closest of the remaining Pillars.
He must have realized what was happening at the last moment, because he tried to Speak, to do something, but it was too late by then. I crashed through the Third Pillar with a deafening crash, and snarled victoriously at the Lich as he tried to process what had happened. "You- the Temple- you fucking simpleton-" He snarled himself and threw himself at me, but now that the jig was up I hit him for everything that I could.
His Aura took the brunt of the damage, saving his body from falling apart underneath the force, but the force was still there. He hit the Wall of the Temple and burst out into the Night sky, landing in the distant sands with a muffled thump. I took one last look around the Temple and let a sadistic glee take me over as I saw that basically every surface that had been covered in the Old tongue was caved in or smashed into rubble. With one last [Thundering Blow] I hit the Last Pillar and watched as it fell over and took the increasingly unstable ceiling with it. There would be nothing to salvage, and very little anyone could do to recreate this thing.
A temple dedicated to transferring and storing matter as Magical Energy, before reformatting it into Matter once more in the form of a new body for a spirit. It was obvious if you could read the Old Tongue, which Fenrir could and had been muttering in my ear for the entire fight about it.
With that taken care of I launched myself through the same wall that I had punted the Lich and landed in the Sand. He sat there, in open mouth despair, as the Temple fell behind me. I didn't care and instead continued to march through the sand towards him. His eyes finally snapped to mine, and now that I could see his coloring and face without Night-vision in my way, I realized that he looked eerily like Nan, except not nearly as Old. Same pronounced eyebrows, the same nose and small ears.
Same flaring nostrils when he was murderously angry.
Bizarre.
He Stormed forward and grabbed me by the front of my Jacket, his hazel eyes flickering blue with his Aura as his emotions got the best of him, "Do you understand what you've done?!" he angrily hissed as he tried to strangle me, but even if he had the higher Str, and after fighting him I was sure that he did, that wasn't all there was to fighting. With a grunt and shove his left shoulder popped painfully out of socket and his arm fell limply to his side, but that was not enough to stop him from accosting me, "Literal Millennia of work, of experimenting, reduced to rubble?! Why?!" I rolled my eyes as I went for ye olde On/Off button, and was rewarded when he fell to his knees clutching his jewels.
"Because you broke my one rule," I responded simply, ignoring his pained and hateful glares as his hands scrabbled at my skin to try and rip me apart.
He may be able to produce more force than me, but I was made for taking damage above all else. Even those hits that were taking a tenth of my health were healed over again before he could really exploit such an amount of damage. My steel toed boot came up and then fell like a guillotine on his wrists, shattering both of them in the process and leaving his hands useless until he regenerated again. Not about to make that an easy task, I ignored his screams and curses as more and more Charisma Skills burst upon my skin ineffectually, before decimating the bones of his arms and leaving his flailing in the sand.
If this man would be so dense as to why I was fighting him than I would have to make it clear. All the times that my vision had clouded surfaced in my memory, all the times I had not been given a choice on whether or not I'd be fighting. My mind or my soul, one of the two, would not let me rest until these issues had been put to rest. I let it all surface in my mind, my soul, and I hoped in my face.
A speeding van crashed into Nan at breakneck speeds, putting her in the hospital for a week. The classmates that insulted Nan for raising me. The thugs in the Don's employ that had almost burnt down an apartment complex full of people just to get to me. The Grimm that Fell upon my friends at Sahili. The Horde of Undead that had been so close to overrunning the entire school, and finally this undead douchebag who seemed more amoral than evil.
There was no power on Remnant that could stop me from tearing the world asunder to punish those that broke my Rule.
"You hurt what is Mine," I grit out as every piece of skin was pulled tight in panic and sheer terror of going through those memories at all. The Mask began to form but I stopped with a bolstering breath. I felt the rage simmer and beg to be released as I looked at the man broken and staring up at me uncomprehendingly, but I stamped down on it. The worst part was that I could understand what drove him, and I knew exactly what to say to get the point across to him. Didn't need to hear anything more out of him either, it was clear as day on his face. I regarded him apathetically, "If that temple was your obsession, then my friends are mine." I knew that even if he killed me, or managed to enslave me somehow, he wouldn't even know where to begin to pick up the pieces.
And then I pulled out my pistol and unloaded two entire clips into him just to get the point across. His Aura stopped most of damage, but a few bullets managed to pierce his legs. He screamed like a newborn babe and I scoffed at his reaction to a few bullets.
Man up and take ya lumps.
While he was dealing with that, and making some unholy racket doing so I might add, I opened my Minimap and made sure that everyone was still around, and was pleasantly surprised when I found that they were. I ignored the Notification for the [Witchy Woman] Quest and crouched in front of the Lich in front of me. He was simply staring in the direction of the Temple now, with some pitiful look on his face that I understood. Didn't matter much to me though. I could feel the pull of the Dungeon breaking down in response to the Temple falling, and so could he.
But then I noticed something in his garbled words as he tried to ride out the pain, he seemed to enjoy cursing the gods and the brothers and any deity in between. Which was… a leap in logic I couldn't follow. The Gods hadn't torn down his dreams, but if he felt like blaming them and not me, that was fine by me.
I was actually surprised at the amount of cursing he was doing. You'd think that disappointment would be par for the course. He grit his teeth as he rode out the pain, "What do you plan to do with me, Cur?" His arms were slowly starting to reform and heal, but we both that would be of little consequence, "You need to make a decision soon, before my crypt falls apart. I've nothing to give you, and an animal like you has very few options to contain someone like me. Leave me here and I can guarantee that I shall not harass you in this life."
A truly benevolent position to take, for an immortal megalomaniac at least.
The difference between our two situations became apparent as the world began to revert and return to the normal world, he faded away with the little slice of reality. He was still tied to his little project and he'd fade away with it if I did nothing. The closest thing to Eternal rest for such a restless spirit. Maybe if he was lucky then he'd make his way back into reality as a Spirit, or maybe he'd be truly gone, sliced off like a tumor on reality. That could be fitting.
But I had no guarantee for when that would be. With a Sigh I flared my Aura and decided that him locked away or lost was not nearly as safe as knowing exactly where the fuck such a nuisance was at all times.
I was not doing this shite again.
With a momentous use of my Aura I activated [Dominion] and coated him in the stuff, and much like it had with Ashley in the Forests four months ago, imparting Aura on an object seemed to bring it into reality. I watched as the Sand flowed into the sky and the building of the campus reappeared from the nightmarish Dungeon as I returned to Reality. I looked around the Courtyard as students and Staff emerged, some looking worse for wear while others looked simply confused about the two hours in hell.
With that I told the lich to sit the fuck down and watched as [Dominion] forced him to do as I told him to. I spared a glance for my Notifications and only began to relax when both of the Quests showed as Completed and I had a few other Achievements and such to look at. I waited a few seconds, looking at my HUD to see if I had actually pulled that off without going under half health. In a courtyard full of crying children and adults I lamely pumped a fist in the air with a not-so-cheerful "Mission Complete?"
Grumbling and tears were my only response.
I leaned against the wall as the rest of my team relayed what they had dealt with during the Night, and while my report had been nothing special, the other three seemed to have had a nearly religious experience in the Catacombs. Apparently, using [Dominion] on someone with their own dominion over others nullified the effects of it, essentially removing the "Itch" as they called it from the population entirely. Joy all around.
Hooo-Raaaaay.
Roman seemed much less tense at least.
While they were going through the paperwork, Ashley having calmly outlawed me from putting ink to an official piece of paper after seeing my handwriting, I was going through the many Notifications I had received from my quests.
Quest Completed: [Witchy Woman!]
Magic in a magical world, useful. Magic in ours? Game-changing.
-Save Marsha Mourie!
Rewards; +3000 exp, +10 Free Points, and +1000 reputation with Marsha Mourie.
Quest Completed: [Soul Purpose]!
I wonder what Possessed them to do that?
-Stop the Spirit that Possessed your friends!
-Clear [Zinzanat Almawtaa]!
Bonus Objectives;
-Uncover the Identity of the Offending Spirit before the end of the Month!
-[Failed] Stop Headmaster Fulvus before he activates [?]!
Rewards; + 250 Relationship with [Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youths], + 3000 Exp, + 10 Free Points.
Bonus Rewards; +1000 Exp.
Dungeon Experience: 93 Skeletons [Lvl 33-37]*50 = 4650 Exp.
Achievement Unlocked; [Novice Necromancer]!
The first step to becoming a true Necromancer.
-Bind three spirits to your soul through the use of [Dominion].
Rewards; + 1% Res.
Achievement Unlocked; [Guile]!
Can't kill what's already dead, I suppose.
Finish a Combat Quest without killing an enemy!
Rewards; + 1 Free Point.
+12125 Exp!
+ 4 Level Up!
All the standard stuff that I was used to, just in higher numbers than usual, but I felt like I had earned it. Sleuthing isn't exactly a strong suit of mine, but I had figured it out in the end. I finished inputting the Free Points into the Stats that I wanted, smiling appreciatively as the numbers continued to grow higher. Especially Res, as it eclipsed the Res of the Lich that I had under my control and ensured the safety of those around us. As it stood he was locked away in some broom closet while I dealt with the fall out of his nonsense.
And when the thing was behind us?
I hadn't thought that far ahead. I just knew that he was the singular case where killing someone was riskier than leaving them alive.
Whatever, I'd deal with that later. I pulled up the [Reputation] page and scrolled down to the Teachers section with a world-weary sigh.
[Marsha Mourie]; [? (Level 6)] 1598/4000
Another Question mark to mess with my life. I never thought that the bane of my existence would be a fucking punctuation mark. So apparently, with Relationships at least, the question mark was there until I got them to say what they thought of me or I figured it out myself.
The rub was that they could lie straight to your fucking face, as Ashley did when she said that I was her "Partner". Either she was lying or she and the Game had a disagreement with terms. I wonder how much longer I had to wait before that was cleared up, let alone this new mystery with Marsha. And speaking of Annoying mysteries… I closed out of all the notifications and pulled up the last one and read it over once more.
Achievement Unlocked; [Full of Sheet]!
Which you are.
-Uncover two Hidden statuses on your Status Page!
Rewards; ?.
Even the Reward was a mystery. I stared at it in fear, realizing that I had somehow managed to figure out what the second question mark on my Page was. How? No clue. I remember specifically avoiding soul-searching in that sand covered nightmare.
But avoiding the issue wouldn't make it go away. I shot one look at the back of my weary teammates and wondered if whatever was on my Status Page would cause them trouble.
…
I mean, it was related to me, so in all honesty, it would most definitely cause them trouble. But would it be a substantial issue or something I can just… ignore?
Prolly not.
I opened up my [Status] and scrolled down to my Traits. Much like it had before when I had first met Fenrir, the hidden trait shimmered and rippled like water before filling in the information.
[Shattered Soul]; A soul so deteriorated that the Older Brother has forsaken it, and refuses to accept it back into his hands. The Body follows the soul, therefore the Body that houses this soul is malleable and follows no plan but its own. Unstable and dangerous, this is a soul to be avoided when possible.
-5 Luck per Level. Malleable Soul allows for [Racial Shifting]. -60% Ap and regen. Hereditary Curse.
Quest Received; [Soul-Searching]!
Who da fuck are you?!
-Having discovered a hint to your past, follow it to the end.
Rewards; Closure.
Hereditary.
Curse.
I took in a deep breath and accessed my Aura to throttle down on the anger that was rising before it got out of hand. Ashley is safe, Roman is safe, and Cosma is safe. Caaalm, I pleaded with myself. I won.
Things were complicated yes, but I was always the simple man in a complicated world. No time limits, no way to fail the quest. If I figure it out, then I figure it out. It's aaalriiight.
No it's not, I'm gonna break somethin'! I tried to reign my temper in when Ash sent me a concerned look over her shoulder.
[Easy, Boss. It's gonna be fine, don't want to break the office, right? Besides your friends are right there, if I can't get you through this, they will. They're alive, they're better than a few hours, and they managed without you. Isn't that something to be happy about?]
And like that my anger deflated. Right, I was doing something right, part of something good. I took deep breaths and calmed myself, giving Ashley a quick smile when she quirked an eyebrow at me. The gesture was enough to have her nod and return to her paperwork, and I was only left with a minor irritation.
I couldn't even go on a rampage because I might hurt someone, let alone have someone that could take a punch-
[What About the Lich, Boss?]
Servico. A smile etched itself across my face as I realized exactly what job I had for the man. The man who could take one of my Fully empowered punches and survive. Someone who could regenerate from crippled limbs in mere minutes.
I had my own living punching bag.
Every little monster's dream come true.
End of the Chapter, End of the Arc.
Austin Staín
Class: [Outsider]:
Title: [Main Tank] ([Fist Whisperer])
Lvl 29: 1525/2900 exp to Next Level.
Hp: 62274/62274 HP Regen: 1453 Hp/Sec
Stm: 2179/2179, Stm Regen: 322 Stm/Sec
Ap: 10600/10600, Ap Regen: 265 Ap/Sec
Current Stress Level; [259/1103]; Natural Stress Relief; 1.05 per Minute.
(+5 per even Lvl, +6 per odd Lvl)Str: (178) 191
(+2 per odd Lvl, +3 per even Lvl)Dex: 64
(+7 per Lvl)Con: (230) 246
(+0 per Lvl)Agi: 9
(+0 per Lvl)Int: 1
(+1 per Lvl)Wis: 9
(-10 per Lvl)Cha: 1
(+5 per Lvl)Res: (129) 130
Free Points; 0.
Attribute Points; 0.
Atk: 1557
Max Thundering Blows Damage: 73979
Pistol Atk: 325
Def: Phys; 80%.
Mag; 0%.
Debuff; 80%.
Shell: Phys; 651 Damage.
Mag; 26 Damage.
Attributes:
[Iron Will]; 50% decrease of Debuff effects applied to Austin. Ex. [Cripple]; 30% decrease to speed → 15% decrease in speed. Inherited from Nan.
[Big Bad Wolf]; +2 to Con and Str per level, -15 to Cha. +100% to experience gain to the [Osteogenesis] Skill. Race set to [Half-Grimm] (Shattered Soul). Inherited from Fenrir.
[Shattered Soul]; -5 Luck per Level. Allows Access to [Half-Grimm] Race. -60% Ap and regen. Hereditary Curse.
[Relentless]; Immune to [Fatigue]. 2*Str when Hp below 50%. Gained through Staying Below 20% Hp for 24 hours or more in one period.
[Self-Respect]; How can the World respect you if even you don't respect You? Gained Through The Little Things.
[Guardian Angel]; + 10 Cha to those that you have saved.
[Fast Regenerator]; When most people lose limbs it's permanent...
Regenerate a fourth of your Con score worth of Hp per Second, half of your Con's worth Stamina per second.
[Deadened]; I Will still fight...
Become 2% more resistant to Debuffs and Status Effects per point of Res.
Receive -1 points of Damage per attack for every 5 points of Res.
Once per Thirty seconds, upon hitting 0 Hp or Lower return to 10% Hp.
[Juggernaut]; Wade through Blows…
For Every 1 Str take .25% less physical Damage.
+5% Atk
[Team Player]; Allows use of the Skill [Teamwork] despite Stat Requirements.
[Direct Approach]; Hard heads Prevail!
When Attempting a Cha-based Skill check against someone with Res higher than Cha, Use Res as the Base instead.
[Strong Back]; Changes the Carry Weight equation from (Str*2.5+50) to (Str*3.75+50).
[Destiny Breaker]
The Chains that Bind will be severed, and I shall be the shearing force.
-20 Luck.
(100 - Luck)% chance to Break [Curses] and [Blessings] applied to you.
[Marked; [Subjects of Prophecy]]; All of those within the affected Group shall recognize you as [Chainbreaker], with the potential to be hostile.
?
-[Pack Animal]
Familiarity is your comfort.
(-50)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses below [Trusted (Level 3)].
(+100)% Relationship increases with those with Relationship Statuses above [Trusted (Level 3)].
- [Rampant Mutation]
Constant regeneration has left you more fit to Fight.
Add 25% of your Con to your Base Attack.
For every 5 points of Con ignore 1 Physical Damage for purposes of Damage.
Oh my lord was this a bitch and a half to write.
I got through the first three fight scenes in about a day and a half. The last thirteen pages and six thousand words in about a week.
In response to H2O Ferrus Dominus;
Drops are determined by Luck, and as ya boi is fucked on that stat, drops will not be created for him. Other Gamers are fair game though, if (when) they make a return to the story.
To one of the Guest Reviewers;
I like to think of my story as a less idealized version of a Gamer Story. Most of the Gamer staple powers from the original webcomic are explicitly there to make things clean and idealized in a combat situation; Gamers body to make wounds less impactful, gamers mind to make mental strain non existent.
Both serve to remove consequences for a Gamer, and I try to make that a present theme of the Story; Unexpected circumstances arise all the time, how you respond is up to you, but know that every action has a price.
Hmmm, In relation to the Plot of the Story, Next up we have the Atlesian excursion where they are chasing down Cosma's Mysterious Sister and doing bog standard non apocalyptic shit along the way. Still dangerous, just nothing crazy. Magic will be taking a back seat now that I have done my best to explain shite and left room for inference.
Sometime soon I might be going back and redoing the earlier arcs, hopefully if that happens it'll just be a better worded and written version of the story as it was put out, but I hope to make rereading more acceptable. Also also, I plan to start writing my own original story soon. If anyone is interested in batting some ideas around then send me a message. As always, as I am trying to get better at writing, any issues or things to say, leave a review. Makes my day.
Alright, that's my piece said.
Jericho Out.